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Re: What have you learnt today?

Originally Posted by JohannBessler

The thing is, Nishin, the countries that have experienced the worst pain cannot easily dig themselves out of the troubles.

Let's take Greece and Spain, for instance. Under the old system, the value of the drachma and peseta (sp?) could drop. This would enable Greek and Spanish exports to become cheap again, which would boost their industries, and so on.

As it stands today, the Euro works like a noose around their necks. Greece and Spain face long, grueling recoveries.

Heaven knows, I hope that I am wrong about this.

Originally Posted by Nishin

You're talking about technical details of the current system while I'm envisioning a larger picture...
China devaluates its money for cheap exports, USA prints more and more dollars whose value is indexed on ... stardust or something...
Certainly all US states are not equal in wealth and the poorest states are supported by the richest state's wealth?
When the EU can do that and reduce its dependence (energy wise) from volatile markets it will have reached its goal and upgraded its inhabitants prospects for better lives.

The euro is a Frankenstein monster, and the American sham capitalist system is the Wiz of Oz.

Re: What have you learnt today?

no matter how long you've been driving for or how much of a good driver you are. always stay alert on the road and pay attention to stop signs, yielding signs, stoplights and etc. it can save your life.

this just creeps me out because over the summertime, i almost got into a car accident when i ran a stop sign coming from the bank. i didn't see the stop sign and a car from the next street that had the right away almost knock my lights out. it would have been a head on impact to because the guy was speeding and i was driving extra slow. luckily, the guy stopped while i was passing through, he didn't beep me or anything. the police wasn't there either. i already have 4 points on my license for speeding on route 1 this year. don't need my license spended, worked way too hard to get it in the first place.

but yeah, a lot of people get caught slipping on the wheel around here especially with the yield signs. yield is another word for STOP for incoming traffic until it's clear. don't know why people ignore yield signs over here.

one thing about the closet/you don't have to hurry/it will be bad tomorrow/so brother, don't you worry

Re: What have you learnt today?

Originally Posted by JohannBessler

^He has a point, RJ.

Once I went through a lazy stage. On my days off, I'd wear a baseball cap and wouldn't shave. I must have looked like white trash on wheels.

One day, I went to return a cable box. The people in the reception room openly mocked me. I have never forgotten the pain of that moment, but it did teach me an important lesson--people really do judge us by the clothes we wear.

It may seem unfair, but it's the ugly truth.

You might want to ditch the hoodie, RJ, and get out your Sunday best.

i disagree with that wholeheartedly. if someone wants to be ignorant, it doesn't matter how you dress or what you do, you can't change their way of thinking. that's something that's on them. they're still going to look at you the same way regardless whether you're in a suit or in street clothes. they have their minds made up about you and those are the people you need to watch out for. there's some exceptions to that such as going to a job interview or to work but otherwise, you have no right to be judged for dressing up in whatever you want simply going to the corner store or return a cable box. you should never blame yourself for someone's ignorance. it's not your fault. the people at the cable company were being jackasses and completely unprofessional laughing at you for how you looked. you should have gave a complaint. their job is to serve you as a customer, not to poke jokes at you. i hope they got fired for that.

as for trayvon martin, what happened to him was a tragedy. dude was simply walking the street minding his business and he gets gunned down because the guy that shot him was ignorant. he assumed that because he saw a black man in a hoodie that he was going to commit crime. he had his mind made up about trayvon. didn't approach him or whatever. just assumed he was a criminal and treated him like one. if trayvon was white, he would have been left alone. it's clear that george zimmerman's ignorance was what led to what happened. besides, it was raining outside so trayvon having a hoodie on would make sense. wouldn't it?

and it's not like i went around the gym with the hood over my head looking like a wrestler. i walked into the gym with a hoodie because it was cold outside.

one thing about the closet/you don't have to hurry/it will be bad tomorrow/so brother, don't you worry

Re: What have you learnt today?

i know he got the beating of a lifetime but geez, dude was about to throw himself under the bus after the fight. i hope he got some mental help because it sounds like dude had a nervous breakdown after that fight. i don't think dude mentally is right upstairs to get back into the ring.

one thing about the closet/you don't have to hurry/it will be bad tomorrow/so brother, don't you worry

Re: What have you learnt today?

I had a guy contact me on Scruff (a gay smartphone app for guys who like "scruffier" types - bears, beards, body hair etc.) who told me in quite detailed language how he wanted to masturbate while I blew up a balloon until it popped. I'd never heard of that fetish so after a few minutes of being bewildered I googled it. Apparently it's not entirely uncommon and folks that get off on balloony funtimes are referred to as looners. Fascinating.

Re: What have you learnt today?

Originally Posted by ashonfire

I had a guy contact me on Scruff (a gay smartphone app for guys who like "scruffier" types - bears, beards, body hair etc.) who told me in quite detailed language how he wanted to masturbate while I blew up a balloon until it popped. I'd never heard of that fetish so after a few minutes of being bewildered I googled it. Apparently it's not entirely uncommon and folks that get off on balloony funtimes are referred to as looners. Fascinating.

Re: What have you learnt today?

Originally Posted by ashonfire

I had a guy contact me on Scruff (a gay smartphone app for guys who like "scruffier" types - bears, beards, body hair etc.) who told me in quite detailed language how he wanted to masturbate while I blew up a balloon until it popped. I'd never heard of that fetish so after a few minutes of being bewildered I googled it. Apparently it's not entirely uncommon and folks that get off on balloony funtimes are referred to as looners. Fascinating.

Re: What have you learnt today?

Yesterday (I forgot to post) I learned that Philippe de Courcillon, marquis de Dangeau, was the type who inspired La Bruyère's Pamphile, and les Caractères being one of my very favorite books for almost twenty years already, it was about time that I learned it...

Today, oh happy day, I have learnt to appreciate Milton, at least his Paradise Lost, so I went and bought the apparently only readily available copy for sale in the whole metro area of Barcelona of that Pullman edition.
Not that I had totally ignored PL... I remember that quote at the beginning of Mary W.S's Frankie but, despite having realized for some time already that my B-chest of books (of course I did not acquire it to be set along my beloved authors) was wanting English language books (just a selection of Keats and, only from a few days ago, Gatsby), I did not make the move until I read the quotes commented by Keats, that I am throwing away as I read or study from the complete edition that was substituted by the one mentioned above.

Re: What have you learnt today?

That Shakespeare's Sonnet 30 is the source for the title, "Remembrance of Things Past", by which readers of the English translation of "A la recherche du temps perdu" knew the work, now commonly translated as "In Search of Lost Time".

That the Salinas is a part time river, from John Steinbeck's "East of Eden". Steinbeck is my favorite American writer.

Re: What have you learnt today?

Originally Posted by LatimerRd

That Shakespeare's Sonnet 30 is the source for the title, "Remembrance of Things Past", by which readers of the English translation of "A la recherche du temps perdu" knew the work, now commonly translated as "In Search of Lost Time".

That the Salinas is a part time river, from John Steinbeck's "East of Eden". Steinbeck is my favorite American writer.

I have a couple of PDF with his Grapes and something... we will see if they will be part of my readings of the next ten months...

Re: What have you learnt today?

I've learnt that not all Canadians are familiar with standard English. I had assumed that even when we make a habit of using American English (aluminum, tire, curb, sidewalk…) we'd still recognise real English English.

Re: What have you learnt today?

Guys, I think it important to realize that, while JUB isn't perfect, it's the best of its kind on the 'Net, bar none.

I too have a couple of issues---the main one relating to the existence of trolls in the political room--but remember: we get free membership...unless you choose otherwise.

The benefits far, far outweigh the annoyances.

Yep and that's another reason for letting relatively minor gripes go. Kinda like when in a relationship when some things bother you about your bf but you don't split up because of it/them because there is more value in staying together.

Re: What have you learnt today?

Today I learned that England invaded and occupied Iceland during World War II. Never mentioned that in my history classes. I'm starting to realize that there is so much I didn't learn while in school.

Leaving aside the fact that you could not actually learn much from all that everybody should be learning at this stage of civilized development, but rather be hinted at all that MUST be learned during the couple of decades following the school period, you do not go to school to "learn": you go there to get programmed or, rather and in most cases, you are merely forced to follow a social rule and habit.

Re: What have you learnt today?

Originally Posted by belamo

Leaving aside the fact that you could not actually learn much from all that everybody should be learning at this stage of civilized development, but rather be hinted at all that MUST be learned during the couple of decades following the school period, you do not go to school to "learn": you go there to get programmed or, rather and in most cases, you are merely forced to follow a social rule and habit.

And yet I learned a quite bit in school, how do you explain that ?

Today I learned that Jerry Springer' shows are terrible (and yet funny in a twisted way to watch).

Re: What have you learnt today?

Scaling a cake mixture that contains eggs, depends on several things:

1. a recipe for tin size A
2. the ratio between the volume of tin A to the volume of tin B
3. the number of eggs in the original recipe for tin size A and a rounding up of the ratio in (2) to accommodate whole eggs.